Tony Krupicka's Training

Tony's training may defy "typical"

Krupicka's summer of running leading up to the Leadville 100 on Aug. 18 shows not only the sheer volume of his training but also a variety of locations in the Rockies, Sierra and Wasatch mountains. Note that Krupicka ran many of those miles with bare feet. Note also that, although Krupicka counts as one of his hobbies, "the decline of the industrial revolution," he's kept a meticulous record of every run he's done since April 12, 1995.

Krupicka's training may defy "typical" but his ultra-training philosophy is straightforward: "Run as many miles as possible in the mountains with especially big runs on the weekends when the average person traditionally has all day to go do it." This past summer Krupicka was lucky enough to have all day every day to get out and dance up and down the trails for hours on end.

With a logbook like Krupicka's, he's a little self-conscious about it: "I'm often scared to give out this kind of information because I think people will just look at them and be like, 'Christ, does he even have any sort of f-ing life?' And they would be right to ask that, but the absolute bottom line is, I just plain purely love to be out on the trails running."

But even a quick glance shows a lack of speed work. "That's partly because I didn't feel like I had a long enough build-up this time to work it in, but mostly, I'm incredibly unscientific and un-rote about my training," he says. "I prefer to go by my intuition and whim and listening to my body and am incredibly motivated by the incomparable feeling I get while being by myself moving through the mountains and woods with nothing but a water bottle and a pair of shoes...Plus, I get to see some plain incredible, incredible, landscapes on a daily basis. I love being above tree line. In one week of training, I probably get to see more mountains and scenery than some people do in a lifetime. Those daily experiences are very important for my well-being and largely motivate my training. I would run almost this much even if I weren't training for a race, but the fact is, my love for running adventure puts me in pretty damn good shape for these 100-mile thingies, so I figure, what the heck, I'll give 'em a shot."